was wotd|2006|December|26
English
wikipedia

Etymology
From Tamil paraiyar. Parai refers in Tamil to a type of large drum designed to announce king's notices to the public. The people who made a living using the parai were called paraiyar; in the caste ridden society they were in lower strata, hence the derisive paraiah and pariah. Now, the term is used to describe an outcast in English.

Pronunciation
IPA|/p��raɪ�/
audio|en-us-pariah.ogg|Audio (US)

Noun
en-noun

1. An outcast
2. A demographic group, species, or community that is generally despised.
3. Someone in exile

Quotations
1842 -- w:William Makepeace Thackeray|William Makepeace Thackeray, The Fitz-Boodle Papers (Fitz-Boodle's Confessions, preface ¹)
:What is this smoking that it should be considered a crime? I believe in my heart that women are jealous of it, as of a rival. They speak of it as of some secret, awful vice that seizes upon a man, and makes him a pariah from genteel society.
1985 � w:Robert Holmes|Robert Holmes, The Two Doctors, p 14
:'I'm a pariah, outlawed from Time Lord society.'

Related terms
pop culture pariah

Category:Tamil derivations

pl:pariah
ta:pariah
vi:pariah
zh:pariah

• 2007-09-06 07:07 - SemperBlotto - Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/209.59.209.159|209.59.209.159]] ([[User_talk:209.59.209.159|Talk]]); changed back to last version by [[User:Beobach972|Beobach972]]

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